Whole Foods makes a big change in the meat department with new veggie burger

It looks like a beef burger. Tastes like a beef burger. And for the first time ever, it's being sold alongside sirloin, lamb and honest-to-goodness ground beef in the meat department at Whole Foods grocery stores.

The Beyond Meat Burger is a plant-based protein that is making its debut this week in the meat section at 51 Whole Foods Markets stretching from Pennsylvania to Ohio, south to Kentucky and east to Maryland and the District of Columbia--launching what maybe a new era in how people think about the protein they consume.

"It's a foot in the door into the mainstream protein case where Americans buy their protein," said Ethan Brown, the founder of Beyond Meat, a California-based company that makes plant-based vegan alternative to animal protein. "We've been living in the penalty box, and we've been knocking on the door of the meat case since the first day I started the company in 2009."

Beyond Meat represents a food version of alternative energy, with traditional meat companies like Tyson Foods hedging its bets as consumer demand increases for healthier, plant-based alternatives to meat protein. Other investors in Beyond Meat include Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Seth Goldman, the creator of Honest Tea and the executive chairman of Beyond Meat.

Whole Foods Market is the largest natural and organic foods grocer in the U.S., operating 442 stores in the U.S., 11 in Canada and nine in the U.K.

"This Beyond Meat Burger in particular cooks like a burger and looks like one," said Joe Wood, mid-Atlantic meat coordinator for Whole Foods Market. "This is the first time a vegan meat alternative has been merchandised in the meat department at Whole Foods Market."

Whole Foods is the exclusive seller of the Beyond Burger through the end of the year, and it is stocking the product in both the meat department, where it hopes to capture traditional meat eaters, and in the dairy/alternative foods section where vegans traditionally shop.

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Brown believes his yellow pea-based burger's entry into the meat case is transformational.

"The future is one where the meat case is going to be called the protein case and consumers will be able to buy plant-based and animal-based protein side by side," said Brown, 45, who worked on clean energy before he tackled meat. ""We are providing energy for the body and we can pull it from a lot of different places."It represents what we feel is the first product that mainstream omnivores are will to seek out and put at the center of their plate."

Whole Foods soft-launched the Beyond Meat Burger nine months ago in the Rocky Mountain region, where it was a big success. It also tested the product in Pentagon City, Virginia, Rockville, Maryland, and downtown Philadelphia.

"It's not science fiction," said Goldman. "It's in the stores. Until now, plant-based protein was primarily carried in the freezer section."

Goldman invested in Beyond Meat 2012. Goldman, who has a strong relationship with Whole Foods dating back to the early days of Honest Tea, played a key role in getting the product distributed beyond the alternative foods' aisle. And for good reason.

"When you are selling in that part of the store, you are reaching 6 to 7 percent of the population that is vegetarian or vegan. When you sell in the meat section, you reach the 90 percent and more who are looking for protein."

Beyond Burgers are manufactured in Columbia, Missouri, from pea protein isolate, plus 20 other ingredients that Goldman said all meet Whole Foods' standards. Coconut oil, canola oil, bamboo starch and a host of flavorings including succinic acid are in addition to the Yellow Pea core ingredient.

Beyond Burgers cost $5.99 for two four-ounce patties, putting the product at $11.98 a pound, significantly more than even organic grass-fed beef, which at Whole Foods retails for $6.99 a pound.

The Washington Post food and dining editor Joe Yonan wrote earlier this year that "nutrition-wise, the burger stacks up closely to an 80 percent lean beef burger, using the USDA Nutrition Database: 290 calories (compared to 288), 22 grams total fat (compared to 22.7), 5 grams saturated fat (compared to 8.7), and 20 grams protein (compared to 19.5). The biggest difference: no cholesterol, compared to the beef burger's 81 milligrams."

"A major challenge with vegetarian and especially vegan diets is getting enough protein for optimal health," said David Ludwig, a professor of nutrition at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "These new products may fill an important niche, with a nutrient profile that closely resembles meat. Even for those who aren't vegetarian, plant-based proteins may have benefits, including by stimulating less insulin in the body. However, the long list of undisclosed ingredients and extensive processing is a potential concern that will need closer scrutiny."